Biosignal said that Commercial Microbiology is highly respected in the oil industry for providing specialist microbiological services for onshore and offshore operations.

Santos and BHP Billiton will fund the trials.

Biosignal announced in May that testing by Monash University had shown that the company’s compounds can remove bacterial biofilms more effectively than existing biocides THPS and glutaraldehyde. The study was based on Desulfovibrio desulfuricans – a major problem organism for the oil industry.

Commercial Microbiology will take the next step in development by testing Biosignal’s lead compounds in a system designed to mimic oil field conditions. It will test the ability of Biosignal’s compounds to remove biofilms formed in a seawater flow environment.

The company said that one of the key applications is to remove and prevent biofilm build-up in seawater injection systems used to support reservoir pressure in some oil fields.

Biofilms growing in the injection systems lead to reduced injection pressure and significantly affect production efficiency. Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) growing in the biofilms can cause hydrogen sulfide “souring” of the oil which is very expensive to treat.

“Commercial Microbiology has devised a system which can assess the effectiveness of chemicals in preventing biofilm growth in seawater injection systems,” said Biosignal chief executive Professor Peter Steinberg.

“Success in these trials will provide strong validation and create increasing interest in Biosignal within the oil industry.”

The project will be conducted over the next four months.